Inspiration

Originally posted 10/27/09

Why is she telling this story backwards?



(Above) A fabulously unusual Miyake design.

I have loved Issey Miyake for a long time, and have a good collection of his patterns, although I've actually only sewn a few of them. Wearing his designs takes a certain confidence in your own artistic interpretation and expression that I think I've had to grow into.

One thing dressmaking has shown me is the amazing variety of body types, dimensions and fit preferences out there. In theory, all clothing should be custom made, but I do realize that it would require a complete re-thinking of how many of us live. As unique as snowflakes, we all navigate different climates, social and professional cultures, physical requirements and challenges, different levels of health, flexibility and body image...

I really marvel at the idea of relatively sizeless wearable sculpture, since my clients, and most people I know, are usually looking to clothe themselves in garments that mimic the shapes of their bodies.

I know Miyake and I are kindred spirits because he co-authored one of my very favorite books about Madeliene Vionnet...



Kimono-making lessons - I was fortunate to have the opportunity to make kimono for kabuki theater early this year. The director had very little to spend on costumes, but knew A LOT about kimono-making, so instead of charging my normal rate, I charged her less, in exchange for lessons and insight. If you have never made one, you wouldn't believe the amout of detail and tradition that govern how a kimono is "properly" made. It is extremely specific, and not something I would recommend trying just for the heck of it. To do it properly (if that is your goal), you have to learn new techniques, and hand-sewing skills. Tradition matters here, and it all doesn't make sense at first... I had to hear a lot of stories before I started to understand. The opposite of the way I usually work, the design of the kimono dictates the fabric, instead of the other way around. Of course, you can always approximate the kimono with modern techniques, but it will be more of a costume version, or a westernized nod to the style of the kimono.



The origami Yoda, pictured above, was an absolute inspiration to this process. Doesn't he look warm and cozy?

I always longed for a winter coat that looked like it was meant to compliment the grey winter cityscape, and I love to be that odd tile in our city's mosaic, so the Miyake coat undertaking was right for this moment. So maybe it took a decade or so, but I finally did it!



Subscribe in a reader Add to del.ici.ous

Welt pockets and bound buttonholes

Why is she telling this story backwards? Click here.



Now is when I get to worry that my welt pockets and bound buttonholes will ruin all of my careful work thus far. The pattern instructions, while accurate, are very broad, and you would need to know for yourself how to make welt pockets and bound buttonholes before attempting this pattern, I'm afraid.



The bound pocket, before pressing, pictured above. All told, it must have taken three hours (no lie) to get these pockets sewn. The sewing needed to be quite precise to look well in this fluffy fabric, and if I screwed it up, I seriously wouldn't be able to afford the fabric for new front pieces. This is when I also started to question the wisdom of sewing with fabric I really can't reasonably afford to replace... or at least doing so would make for an astronomically expensive garment! Hmmm... Guess I'll think about this after I sew my next few projects, for which this fact is also true...

So this part of the process also prompted some deep soul searching, as I questioned the value of spending a whole three hours on my own coat pockets, when that time could have been spent on a client's project, or doing something, ANYTHING else. Oddly enough, I don't feel the same guilt over watching a movie, or going for a walk, yet I lament three hours of time spent on something that is just a detail, for myself only, since, if I were pricing this particular project out for a client, this would be a darn expensive coat! I also question why I didn't take the easier road; flatlining the entire thing, making slit pockets, using the same flaps, closing the coat with a center front zipper with a front placket and/or buttons with loops, frogs or toggles, to spare the pain of bound buttonholes. (In the end, I didn't do bound buttonholes because of my unusual button decision.)

Oddly enough, I don't fret nearly as much over my now FIVE year quilt, or nearly TWO year scarf, which I have comitted to completing while away on our brief summer vacation, which has come and gone... and during which I probably had a total of 20 minutes of actual downtime.

I'm loving it anyway, and whether you, my dear readers, love it or hate it, the fact remains that this is not a garment that could ever be mass produced. These fiddly details, bias bindings, smal changes to suit my personal preferences wouldn't be done by anyone's hands but my own. So yes, I'm glad I did it. But then again, I'm not done yet...

Subscribe in a reader Add to del.ici.ous

Miyake - now I'll start boring you with the details...

Part of my new blogging philosophy is to include what is useful and FINISHED, so that I can actually inspire other people to sew and FINISH their projects, too. For those of you who know a bit about my life, you know that I juggle many things, so some projects take me a VERY LONG TIME to complete. However, I do always try to challenge myself, and create things that have a great deal of personal meaning for me.

To see the finished coat, and read why I'm telling the story backwars, click here.

So, now that I have spent the last 9 years or so(literally) thinking about the Issey Miyake coat pictured below, the perfect fabric practically jumped off the shelf at Rosen and Chadick to greet me! It was pricey, but happily, a tip from a client (Yes, I'm serious) was serendipitously enough to buy the yardage I needed!

This is the inspiration:





And these fabrics together tell just the story I want to tell:



So maybe this is a bit hard to visualize, since you're not living in my brain, but I'll walk you though it...

(written 8/26/09)

Subscribe in a reader Add to del.ici.ous

Neuroplasticity and Issey Miyake

Well, it seems eveything always comes full circle. I am now working with a client, making custom kimonos for a kibuki theater project. And, whoa, what a learning experience... Not only that, but learning to make a kimono gives some insight into Miyake's design ideas and shapes. The following post, which I wrote last year, fits into this moment in my work as well.

A recent article in the New York Times, entitled "A Pointy-headed Piano", was so beautifully inspirational and well written, that I have kept the clipping near me, waiting for an opportunity to use it somehow...

Dr. Norman Doidge, the author of a book studying the experiences of scientists, doctors and patients in the field of neuroplasticity (a new way of looking at the brain as a more malleable and renewable structure than the traditional) is featured in this article, describing his beloved Heintzman piano. The article uses the piano as a metaphor for the brain's ability to adapt.

In a nutshell, this rare transposable piano, made in 1895, allows a musician to slide its keyboard left or right, two or three keys in either direction. This, in his words, "eliminates the need to play the entirely different configuration that switching to another key requires." This is much like the brain's ability, when it hits a wrong "key", to transpose to a new one, after a stroke, learning disability, or emotional trauma. As the parent of an autistic child, I have become acutely aware of what an amazingly complex instrument the brain is, and how wonderful it can be, discovering which "keys" to play.

While the author mentions that the goal of the adaptive brain is to perform repetitive tasks, personally, I love breaking out of that mold, and embracing the constant challenge of "new thinking", which brings me to one of my favorite artists/designers... the one and only Issey Miyake.

I made my first Miyake when I was in high school. I used a striped, tightly-woven wool fabric from Art Max fabrics in Manhattan's garment district. How I loved that store... (sigh) It had an assymmetrical, sculptural skirt and a cowl-necked shirt with dangling "straps", for lack of a better description.

So, I have had the following Miyakes for quite some time, and hope to make them soon (the coats first!), but I always find that I am far more inspired by the flats than the photos,

since the models never look anything like me, and the fabrics chosen are always wildly different than anything I would ever choose.

So, here they are...







These patterns, if you are unfamiliar with them, are as close to "fabric oragami" as one can get. Once you have learned to create garments, you have a general understanding of what shape a collar should be, where it should attach, where the armholes should be... well, Miyake patterns challenge all of that, and require that you surrender to the instructions and embark on the adventure.